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National Black Cat Day

October 27, 2018

Black cats & black kittens are such beautiful, majestic creatures. Their rich dark black color and piercing eyes make them very unique and quite magical. No matter how beautiful they are, they are often overlooked at shelters or associated with bad luck or evil. Today we are discussing the interesting history of black cats.

The History of Black CatS

In ancient Egypt, cats were considered to be sacred. Black cats of royalty were allowed to eat off of their owners plates and adorned with golden jewelry. The goddess of warfare was a woman with the head of a cat named "Bastet". Learn about the unique history of black cats in Egyptian history here. Black cats are often are seen as unlucky or mischievous, but we aren't exactly sure why.

In Celtic mythology, it was believed that fairies could take the form of black cats, and therefore their arrival to a home or village was seen as sign of good luck. Unfortunately, the Pilgrims that came after them were devoutly religious and fearful of anything remotely related to the pagan beliefs of their ancestors, and it was because of that fear that black cats went from being seen as the vessels of fairies to the vessels of witches and demons. At that time it became common practice to severely punish those who kept black cats as pets, and even kill the animals themselves.

Although nobody really believes black cats are witches or demons in disguise anymore, people continue to view black cats as a sign of bad luck. To this day, some famous television shows suggest black cats can talk, and many Halloween movies suggest black cats are bad luck; However, in some asian cultures, black cats are considered good luck!

With Halloween just days away, be sure to celebrate black cats everywhere!

If we had to pick our favorite black cat in pop culture, it would be a tie between:

Next time you see a black cat, don't be scared...remember that they are beautiful, innocent animals who just want to be loved like all pets do. Find Adoptable Cats in Your Local Shelter. If you're looking to adopt a black cat, you may want to wait until after Halloween (Shelters usually ban adoptions to protect black cats from satanic rituals this time of year).